why do banks ask so many questions when your opening an account

talkin

why do banks ask so many questions,do they really need to know? is it normal for a bank to ask so many questions

drunkmonkey

You might want some money off them, they need to know as much as possible, there also money laundering laws they need to abide by.

What you got to hide?

talkin

ha ha my other half was with me at the time n id savings he didnt know bout it isnt much but i couldnt say infront of him! feel like criminal now though all i wanted to do was open a joint account

TheVoodoo

As drunk monkey said, alot of questions are purely for the purpose of abiding to the (new-ish) anti money laundering legislation introduced by the EU last october.

Just like all banks within the Eurozone can only trade foregin exchange with their own account holders, so all transactions can be recorded through their accounts, again, to try combat money laundering.

talkin

so i shouldnt feel like a criminal:eek: please somebody say that i feel very bad. im waiting for them to come banging on my door.

ICE HOUSE

Its not just the banks. I was getting the cable sorted in the new gaff few months back. Talk about the spanish inquisition:rolleyes:
Just short of asking me how was my sex life ?

talkin

its awful though,i felt like i was on trial. my head was all over the place leaving and has been since!

TheVoodoo

Not at all. Its the same for everybody who wants to open an account regardelss of age/gender/marital status etc. It's just a measure taken to try and prevent/protect against money laundering tand things like that.

Basically, boxes need to be ticked/crossed. It's pretty much the same questions for everybody, so dont take it personal at all, everybody has to be asked them.

talkin

i hope so. i just couldnt say about my pityfull savings while my OH was there

mikemac

AML anti money laundering questions.

It's not personal OP, the banking officer just have to comply with these.

If it turned out that talkin was an international criminal then they have to prove all checks were made to their managers and those managers have to pass this to the Gardai and Financial Regulator.

talkin

im defo not an international criminal :eek: i couldnt even deal with the pressure of opening an account! i know there only doing there jobs though but its a bit off putting well for me.

daithimac

The main reason is anti money laundering. some of the requirements can sometimes seem a bit silly. I remember trying to open a joint account with my other half before. She was told that she was fine and could open the account on the spot. I on the other hand needed to produce two letter heads with my name and address on them. I said that I didn't have any bills in my name. most of our bills are on card. gas esb etc. the said that I could use bank statements. great, but not bank statements from accounts that you halve with us. I asked them if i could provide identification and a letter from my employer. they said yes until I told them that I worked for the bank that I was looking to open the account with. they then told me that that would be unacceptable as they cannot accept anything with there own letter head on it. at that point I started to laugh and we walked out and didn't bother. Strangest day ever